One of the things I enjoy doing in my spare time is running. It is so nice to head out on a trail or on the road. I usually run by myself and do not listen to music or anything else.
The peace and quiet is so enjoyable. I focus on my cadence, take in the scenery or try to keep breathing. No phone calls. No text messages. No emails. It is a brief time of tranquility.
I haven’t been able to run as much the past couple years. I was blessed to be my mother’s primary caregiver until her passing in December 2020. During that time, work was a necessity and, of course, my volunteering for the Convention of States Project. Something had to give and that was running.
The last major race I ran was the Big Sur International Marathon in April of 2019. Training for a marathon is a very detailed process and is a substantial commitment. The training is varied. There is speed work where a runner focuses on their running pace. There is hill training where a runner will build strength by running up a hill or control their speed running downhill. A marathon training program will mix intermediate distance runs and longer training runs that may stretch to 20 miles. Most programs add weight training and scheduled rest days are key parts of training.
A marathon is 26.2 miles. Now, I am not fast by any stretch of the imagination. My running joke (no pun intended) is I can run really slow for a long time. No matter how well you have trained, something is bound to go wrong during those 26.2 miles. It may start to rain. You might land awkwardly on a stride and tweak part of your body. You will feel a level of fatigue that is hard to describe. Experts say even world-class athletes can physically prepare to run 20 miles. The final 6.2 miles is entirely mental.
“When fighting a bear, you don’t fight until you are tired. You fight until the bear is tired.”
When the fatigue builds to the point of affecting me mentally, I recite the quote above and it helps me power through.
Think about the meaning of the quote. If you were fighting a bear (which, I do not recommend) and gave up when you were tired, well, that would not be a good outcome. In order to succeed and survive, you would have to fight until the bear was tired. Only at that point would you be successful.
This is not unlike what we do as self-governing, citizen activists. We are fighting back against the numerous federal government violations of the Constitution.
The federal government is a BIG bear and one that does not tire easily. In order to be successful in our mission, we have to train. We need to learn the history of our country’s founding, why the Constitution was drafted the way it was and how the federal government is exceeding its enumerated powers. We must know our opposition’s arguments and how to defeat them. We have to know how to persuade our elected representatives to fulfill their constitutional responsibilities.
If you have not visited COS University, I encourage you to. There are courses in Constitutional Literacy, and Introduction to the Convention of States Projects, answering opposition arguments, etc. there. If you have volunteered for a specific role, we have training there to help you be effective. We provide additional training on our communication and technology platforms to help you succeed.
Thank you for all you do to defend liberty. Now, let’s go defeat that bear!
Brett Sterley is the State Director for Convention of States Missouri.
